FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ONTARIO

Friday, January 20, 2012

            The TORONTO BLUE JAYS will conduct 14 Blue Jays Honda Super Camps this summer across 10 provinces in July and August as they continue their commitment to amateur baseball in Canada.

            In conjunction with Honda and Baseball Canada the club will conduct instructional baseball camps in Edmonton, Alberta at Telus Field from July 2-4 before moving on to Calgary, Alberta (Foothills Stadium, July 5-7), Kelowna, British Columbia (Elks Stadium, July 9-11), Vancouver, British Columbia (Nat Bailey Stadium, July 12-14), Montreal, Quebec (Ahuntsic Park, July 23-25), Ottawa, Ontario (Kinsmen Fields, July 26-28), London, Ontario (Centrefield Sports, July 30 - August 1), Halifax, Nova Scotia (Mainland Commons Field, August 5-7), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Memorial Field Complex, August 8),   Moncton, New Brunswick (Kiwanis Park, August 9-11), St John’s, Newfoundland (St. Pats Ballpark, August 13-15), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Cairns Field, August 20-22), Winnipeg, Manitoba (Shaw Park, August 23-25) and Toronto (Rogers Centre, Aug 29-31).

In 2012 the Blue Jays will increase the number of coaches and alumni participating in the camps.   While the schedules of the alumni are not confirmed, Duane Ward, Roberto Alomar, Lloyd Moseby, Jesse Barfield, Paul Quantrill, Homer Bush, Rance Mulliniks and Frank Catalanotto are some of the names that will be assisting the Baseball Canada instructors in coaching the children.  

“Following on the success of last year’s inaugural Honda Super Camps, we are so very pleased to again be partnering with Baseball Canada to promote participation in the game of baseball across Canada. The partnership between the Blue Jays and Baseball Canada is truly unique – there really is no other similar partnership in professional sports providing this quality of instruction with this many Major League and national team quality instructors to kids across an entire country. Together we are going to continue to grow the game of baseball in this country.”      Stephen Brooks, Senior Vice-President, Business Operations, Toronto Blue Jays

            The camps will run from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at a cost of $230 for kids aged 10-16.  

The Charlottetown, PEI camp is a one day camp and will have a price of $40.   Registration will be available on bluejays.com/camps and is limited to the first 150 registrants.  In addition, working with local Boys & Girls Clubs, the Toronto Blue Jays, through Jays Care Foundation, will donate registration fees for a select number of players in each of the camps to help remove any barriers to participation.  Also assisting is the Toronto Chapter of the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) who will donate registration fees for a select number of children.

Each participant will receive a Blue Jays hat and t-shirt along with a 12-inch leather pro model Roberto Alomar Series baseball glove.  

            A complete listing of camp dates and details is below.

DATE                       LOCATION                          FACILITY

July 2-4                   Edmonton                          Telus Field

July 5-7                   Calgary                              Foothills Stadium

July 9-11                 Kelowna                             Elks Stadium

July 12-14               Vancouver                          Nat Bailey Stadium

July 23-25                Montreal                            Ahuntsic Park

July 26-28                Ottawa                               Kinsmen Fields

July 30-Aug. 1          London                               Centrefield Sports

August 5-7               Halifax                               Mainland Commons Field

August 8                Charlottetown                 Memorial Field Complex

August 9-11             Moncton                             Kiwanis Park

August 13-15           St. John’s                           St. Pats Ballpark

August 20-22           Saskatoon                          Cairns Field

August 23-25           Winnipeg                            Shaw Park

“ In a statement released by Baseball P.E.I; Don LeClair, President of Baseball PEI expresssed the shock and sadness of the baseball community of the province in learning of the tragic deaths of Tanner Craswell and Mitch MacLean as a result of a shooting in southern Alberta on Thursday.

“Tanner and Mitch represented so well how young ballplayers who love the game and are willing to make sacrifices to fulfill their dreams can really take advantages of opportunities to advance their education while continuing to play the game they love.  Both Mitch and Tanner were former members of our Canada Cup team. Tanner, as well, was selected to be a member of Team Canada competing in international junior competitions. Mitch was a valued   member of our provincial Canada Games team in 2009, and had a great season playing with the senior Islanders in 2010. They will be missed greatly by all baseball enthusiasts in the province, and indeed throughout Atlantic Canada. On behalf of Baseball PEI; I extend our deepest sympathies to the parents, families and friends of these two fine young men.”